The Adventure of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

Maybe Disney and company realized their mistake in producing another multi-feature package film with Melody Time. Maybe the studio had made enough money through the 1940s to stick to longer tales. Maybe they decided it was time to get back to more serious literary adaptations. Whatever the reason for making The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, this film marks the start of Disney’s rise back to the top.

Similar to Fun and Fancy Free, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is a collection of two longer animated tales. Ironically, the tale of Mr. Toad (based on Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows) actually comes first. For those of you who are not familiar with the tale, a trio of anthropomorphic animals attempts to save their friend (Mr. Toad) from himself. Ratty, Moley and Angus MacBadger do their best to prevent their trend-happy friend from losing his home while also avoiding incidental personal injury at the hands of the over-exuberant Mr. Toad.

The second half of the film features a Bing Crosby-narrated account of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Washington Irving’s haunting ghost tale focuses on a superstitious town where jealously may or may not have turned deadly. The new schoolmaster catches the eye of a lovely young woman, drawing the ire of a testosterone-fueled local bully at the same time. The bully warns of a local legend called The Headless Horseman, who stalks the town at night, in an attempt to scare his competition out of town.

Once again, by focusing on longer stories, Disney’s animators are able to labor over the details. There’s a richness in the background animation here that was absent in many of the earlier package films. Having a longer subject gives the animator a chance to invest more of his or her time into the product, which ultimately gives the audience a higher quality visual experience to embrace.

Another interesting observation I made is that, with this film, the animation style that would prevail during the 1950s for Disney films is finally consistent through both shorts. Many of the shorts throughout the 40s package films had varying animation styles. Some were more experimental than others while others attempted to cling to the lavish beauty of Snow White and Pinocchio. Here we finally catch a glimpse of what’s to come- scaling back some of the background details, a flatter look to the foreground, and crisper colors for the objects we’re supposed to be focusing on. Some of this was used before like in ‘Peter and the Wolf’ and ‘The Legend of Johnny Appleseed’ but it seems like Disney had finally decided to keep this style as the norm.

The stories themselves are timeless classics and you won’t get any complaints out of me for that. Both tales are treated with respect but also make room for creative license. I think the only thing that feels off is the pairing. The Wind in the Willows is a little lighter and more madcap, whereas The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has a more Gothic feel. Disney does his best to lighten it up but there’s no getting around the horror that is The Headless Horseman.

If anything, this final package film (and the 11th overall production by Disney and his team) feels a little bi-polar. Disney broke them up for individual re-release in the 1950s, which accounts for most people remembering these shorts separately. Whether you care for it or not, this film is a symbolic victory for Disney. He and his animators are planting their feet down in preparation of leaping back to prominence.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

The Killer Shrews (1959)

In my quest to watch bad films to help fill out the lower half of my rating scale I had a tough decision to make. Anyone familiar with the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 knows that the cast watches lousy movies and makes fun of those films while watching. Could I watch the MST3K version of the films while still giving it an accurate and impartial assessment? Hopefully you don’t think this damages my aspirations for credibility, because my answer was yes.

Thorne Sherman and his first mate are supply runners to various island residents in, what is presumably, the Caribbean. One day their run takes them to an island inhabited by a reclusive scientist, his daughter and assistants, all shut up in a secure compound. Through small talk while unloading the supplies, the scientist reveals that he is carrying out experiments for ‘the betterment of mankind.’ He is working on a procedure to create half-sized humans in an effort to reduce world hunger. Through his experiments though, the scientist also created a breed of over-sized, venomous shrews, which inhabit the island.

Before Thorne and his mate can leave the island behind, a hurricane approaches, making the waters unsafe for travel. Forced to stay the night, they must endure an attack by a pack of the mutated shrews. The presence of the newcomers causes tensions to rise amongst the scientist's helpers. During a scuffle, the shrews are able to breach the compound. Thorne and the science team are forced to find a way to work together to escape certain death.

The fact that Mystery Science Theater 3000 included this on their show should tell you that this is a terrible film. There is no sugar-coating it- this film is bad. How bad, you ask? Let me put it this way- this movie is so pathetic that it’s only worth seeing if you watch the MST3K treatment. Many viewers will still feel as though they wasted their time, however, so consider yourself warned.

If you find yourself watching the original version of The Killer Shrews, be prepared for countless pregnant pauses, lots of staring, poorly delivered dialogue, and, of course, killer shrews. The antagonists of the film are easily among the least scary monsters ever to fumble across the screen. The killer shrews are nothing more than dogs draped in furry sheets with masks on their heads.

The story itself is absurd, especially the romance that develops, literally overnight, between Thorne and the scientist’s daughter. No explanation is given about why the scientist experimented on making shrews larger when he was really trying to make humans smaller. Sure, having large, venomous shrews running around creates the drama necessary for the film to even exist but why shrews?

The Killer Shrews may have the potential to be an amusing, tongue-in-cheek B-movie made for fun and with no real expectation of being taken seriously (a la Snakes on a Plane). The trouble lies in the fact that no one but Z-list actors would even want to approach such a film and no one with half a brain cell would pay full theater ticket price to see it. This film seems destined to remain a terrible example of cinema that is only made watchable by people making fun of it.

RATING: 0.25 out of 5